Multi-purpose bulldozing tractor and loader



Oct 7, 1964 H. D. BORDEAUX ETAL 3,

MULTI-PURPOSE BULLDOZING TRACTOR AND LOADER INVENTORS. HENRY D. BORDEAUXARTHUR JVGIDEONSEN ROLAND E. HASSELBACHER JOHN E. JASS .BY 6 AT 0 RN EYSOch 1964 H. D. BORDEAUX ETAL 3,153,366

MULTI-PURPOSE BULLDOZING TRACTOR AND LOADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July6, 1962 INVENTORS. HENRY D. BORDEAUX ARTHUR J. CMDEON SEN ROLANDEHASSELBACHER JOH N E 3A8} A. ORNEYS Oct. 27, 1964 H. D. BORDEAUX ETAL3,153,366

MULTI-PURPOSE BULLDOZING TRACTOR AND LOADER Filed July 6, 1962 3Sheets-Sheet 3 I \3 so R9 f L ////4 Q INVENTORS.

HENRY D. BORDEAUX ARTHUR J. (MDEONSEN ROLAND EHASSELBACHER JOHN E. JASSBY z 2 AT ORNEYS United States Patent 3,153,866 MULTI-PURPOSE BULLDOZINGTRACTOR AND LOADER Henry D. Bordeaux and Arthur J. Gideonsen, Peoria,Roland E. Hasselbacher, Brimfield, and John E. lass, Peoria, 113.,assignors to Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria,

111., a corporation of California Filed July 6, 1962, Ser. No. 261,917 2Claims. (Cl. 37-117.5)

The present invention relates to a multi-purpose vehicle designed formilitary use in the form of a tractor having a combination bulldozerblade and loader bucket and having a bowl capable of receiving earthfrom the bucket.

in military use, it is desirable to have a relatively light machinecapable of high speeds and designed for various uses. Bulldozing ofearth requires machine weight so that the heavy loads encountered inbulldozing will not cause slipping or breaking away of the tractortracks from the ground.

One object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle having aloader bucket in which the bucket is capable of use in the ordinarymanner for moving material or loading it into a truck and also capableof loading material into a bowl of the tractor provided for that purposefor transport of the material or for the purpose of increasing theoverall weight of the tractor making it more eficient in bulldozin goperations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle capable ofcarrying troops and capable of amphibious operation.

Further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention aremade apparent in the following specification wherein the invention isdescribed in detail by reference to the accompanying drawings.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view in side elevation of a machine embodying thpresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same machine;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the forward portion ofthe machine only with portions broken away to disclose the door openingmechanism of the ballast compartment or bowl of the machine;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view taken on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3 withthe doors shown in closed position; and

FIG. 5 is a similar view with the doors shown in open position.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the machine of the present inventionis shown as a track-type vehicle having the usual track mechanismgenerally indicated at and having a rear housing 11 for containing powermeans (not shown) and an operators station. The forward portion of thevehicle consists principally of a ballast compartment or bowl generallyindicated at 12 which may be closed at its forward end as by a pair ofswinging doors 13 and the rear end by an ejector 14 adapted to be movedforwardly for ejecting the contents of the bowl by means of hydraulicjacks 15 which function in a well known manner.

The machine carries a combination bulldozer blade and loading bucketcomprising a blade portion 17 with a bucket portion comprising sidewalls 13 and a bottom 19 pivotally connected with respect to the bladeas at 2%} so that the blade serves as a back for the bucket. The bladeis at least the full Width of the tracks of the machine as is desirablefor bulldozing operations but the bucket is no wider than the ballastcompartment or bowl so that it can load material thereinto in a mannerpresently to be described. The combination blade and bucket is carriedat the forward end of a pair of lift arms, one of which is shown at 22in FIG. 1, which are pivotally connected to the sides of the machine asat 23 and adapted to be raised and lowered as by a pair of double actingjacks 24 also pivoted to the sides of the machine. The combination bladeand bucket is also pivoted to the ends of the lift arms as at 25 and apair of hydraulic jacks 26 interconnect the lift arms and the blade fortilting the bucket with respect to the lift arms and about the pivots25. Bucket actuating jacks shown at 28 in FIG. 1 are pivotally connectedwith the back of the blade and with the sides of the bucket as at 29 forswinging the bucket sides 18 and bottom 19 about the pivots 29.

Several typical positions of the blade and bucket are shown in FIG. 1wherein the full line position is that used for loading the bucket orfor bulldozing with the blade when the sides and bottom of the bucketare swung upwardly. When the bucket has been loaded, the entire assemblyis swung back to the broken line position illustrated at A by retractionof the jacks 26. With the bucket in this position, the lift arms may beactuated to swing it upwardly to the extreme position shown at B whereinthe contents of the bucket have been deposited in the ballastcompartment or bowl 12. In this manner, the ballast compartment can beloaded to increase the weight of the tractor and thereby increase itsefficiency as a bulldozing machine. Where the bucket is to be used onlyfor moving earth from one position to another or for loading a truck orother transport vehicle, it is raised by the lift arms only to theposition illustrated at C. The bucket jacks 28 are then retracted toswing the side walls and bottom of the bucket forwardly as shown inbroken lines at position C permitting discharge of the bucket contents.Complete discharge may also be facilitated in this position by extensionof the tilt jacks 26 to move the bulldozer or back portion of the bucketto the forward position shown. Thus the machine is capable of loadingits own ballast and capable of use as an ordinary bucket loader as wellas a bulldozer which may be used for heavy bulldozing operations as wellas light grading and scraping operations.

The ballast compartment or bowl of the machine is also available for usein transporting material or troops and serves as a floatationcompartment to enable amphibious use of the vehicle in such transportingservice. To this end, the doors 13 are provided with suitable sealswhich do not form a part of the present invention but are partiallyillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 at 30. The doors 13 are, at best shown inFIGS. 3, 4 and 5, hinged as at 32 to opposite sides of the machine withinclined mating edges at their central dividing point which embraces theseal shown at 30. Suitable seals, not shown, are of course also arrangedaround the other edges of the doors. The doors are actuated by hydraulicjacks 33 pivotally connected with a crank 34 on the upper end of a crankpin 35 journaled in brackets 36. The same crank pin carries an arm 37 atits lower end pivotally connected with a link 38 also pivotallyconnected to a bracket 39 on the door. The closed position of the doorand actuating mechanism is illustrated in FIG. 4 and the fully openposition is illustrated in FIG. 5. In the closed position illustrated inFIG. 4, the centers of the pivot pins at the end of the links 38 areshown as disposed slightly inwardly of the center of the crank pin 35.Consequently with this over-center position, pressure on the insides ofthe doors does not tend to open them and hydraulic pressure in the jacks33 is not relied upon to hold the doors firmly in their closed position.The doors are opened for loading cargo or troops and are also opened forejecting ballast or other loads upon forward movement of the ejector 14.All of the door actuating mechanism is contained in separate sealedcompartments disposed on opposite sides of the bowl 12.

We claim:

1. A multi-purpose vehicle comprising a combined cargo space and ballastcompartment, a bulldozer blade disposed forwardly of the vehicle, sidewalls and a bottom plate pivoted to the bulldozer blade to form a loaderbucket therewith, means to swing the blade and bucket elements upwardlyand over the ballast compartment to deposit the bucket contents therein,means to swing the bucket elements forwardly to discharge the bucketcontents forwardly of'the vehicle, doors for closing the end of theballast compartment, power actuated opening and closing means for thedoors and means sealing the doors against entrance of water into theballast compartment.

2. A multi-purpose vehicle comprising a combined cargo space and ballastcompartment, a bulldozer blade disposed forwardly of the vehicle, sidewalls and a bottom plate pivoted to the bulldozer blade to form a loaderbucket therewith, means to swing the blade and bucket elements upwardlyand completely over the ballast compartment to deposit the bucketcontents into the compartment throughout its length, said means alsobeing controllable to swing the blade and bucket elements upwardly andforwa'rdly of the vehicle, and means to swing the bucket ele- 4- mentsupwardly and forwardly of the blade to allow a controlled discharge ofmaterial forwardly of the vehicle, said blade being substantially aswide as the vehicle, and said bucket elements being no wider than theballast compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,392,025 Craig Jan. 1, 1946 2,645,043 Booton July 14, 1953 2,824,391Roemer Feb. 25, 1958 2,853,812 Van Riet Sept. 30, 1958 2,927,385Blomquist Mar. 8, 1960 3,038,265 Hunger June 12, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS1,145,190 France Oct. 23, 1957 1,112,455 Germany Aug. 3, 1961

2. A MULTI-PURPOSE VEHICLE COMPRISING A COMBINED CARGO SPACE AND BALLASTCOMPARTMENT, A BULLDOZER BLADE DISPOSED FORWARDLY OF THE VEHICLE, SIDEWALLS AND A BOTTOM PLATE PIVOTED TO THE BULLDOZER BLADE TO FORM A LOADERBUCKET THEREWITH, MEANS TO SWING THE BLADE AND BUCKET ELEMENTS UPWARDLYAND COMPLETELY OVER THE BALLAST COMPARTMENT TO DEPOSIT THE BUCKETCONTENTS INTO THE COMPARTMENT THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH, SAID MEANS ALSOBEING CONTROLLABLE TO SWING THE BLADE AND BUCKET ELEMENTS UPWARDLY ANDFORWARDLY OF THE VEHICLE, AND MEANS TO SWING THE BUCKET ELEMENTSUPWARDLY AND FORWARDLY OF THE BLADE TO ALLOW A CONTROLLED DISCHARGE OFMATERIAL FORWARDLY OF THE VEHICLE, SAID BLADE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY ASWIDE AS THE VEHICLE, AND SAID